Automatic door opening and closing means

ABSTRACT

In a non-power driven type of automatic door opening and closing means, man&#39;&#39;s weight applied onto the step board means will be transmitted over to an operating chain, which is carried over between two chain wheels, through combination of poises, gear wheels, chain wheels, sprocket wheels, and a transmitting chain that are arranged adjacent to the door-case; and a door is connected with said operating chain by means of connecting element so that the running of the chain may cause the door to open or close effectively.

1 United States Patent 1151 3,660,939 Suita [4 1 May 9, W72

[54] AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENING AND 3,172,651 3/1965 Wilson ..49/360 CLOSING MEANS 3,475,862 1 1/1969 Ozaki ..49/360 Inventor: m Suits, Suits, Japan FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 A g Rwichi Miloguchl, iw M k 15,015 2/1904 Austria ..49/404 Kamlya, Tokyo,.lapan 22 Filed: Oct 20 1970 Primary ExaminerfJ. Karl Bell Attorney-Ernest G. Montague [2]] Appl. No.: 82,428 I ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl ..49/263, In a non-power driven type of automatic door opening and [5U 13/04 505d 15/06 closing means, man's weight applied onto the step board [58] new of Search means will be transmitted over to an operating chain, which is 7 49/404 carried over between two chain wheels, through combination of poises, gear wheels, chain wheels, sprocket wheels, and a [56] References Cited transmitting chain that are arranged adjacent to the door-case; UNITED STATES PATENTS and a door is connected with said operating chain by means of connecting element so that the running of the chain may cause l 3 Coleman 1 1 1 1 1 X the door to open or close effectively 550,68l 12/1895 Hiorth..... 2,989,302 6/ l 961 Clark ..49/360 X 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures *1 '1 1 F I 1 1 I! I II I6 I; 54, v /3 I r i I l 1 53 J -5/ I i L ,52

i I i I.

AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MEANS This invention relates generally to automatic door opening and closing mechanism, and more particularly to means for opening and closing doors automatically not through the use of any electric power but through the use of man's weight as well as by the action of suitably suspended poises.

Several different types of means for opening and closing doors automatically are known. However, such conventional automatic door opening and closing means are driven by electric power in which the construction requires such a complicated combination of mechanism with electric circuits that not only a high manufacturing cost but also a regular check up and high maintenance fees are to be involved. Moreover, such electric power driven door opening and closing means will never work at the time of power suspension.

. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel non-power driven type of door opening and closing means of simple construction which will permit manufacture at a very low cost.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel nonpower driven type of door opening and closing means which will operate even at the time of electricity failure and can be used at a remote place where electric power supply is not available.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel nonpower driven type of door opening and closing means which is excellent in durability and requires less maintenance fees.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevation showing one preferred embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing one example of prior art step board means applicable as actuating means to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged and detailed fragmentary elevation of F l6. 1, showing the essential mechanism for effecting the door opening and closing operation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an axial section along the line IV IV of FIG. 3;

and FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation, partly in section, showing the ratchet means in detail, with parts of cover plates broken away for a better demonstration.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1-2, by means of hanger elements 14 and roller elements 15, the door is slidably carried upon the rail means 12 suitably mounted on the upper door-case 13. Both in front of and behind the door l0, there are provided two foot actuating means respectively, which are disposed opposite to each other and, preferably, embeded in the floor so as to be flush with the floor surface. Such foot actuating means may be of any type as long as is provided with a step board which is connected directly or indirectly with a wire actuating arm adapted to be operative in response to a weighting load applied onto said step board. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the foot actuating means 20 includes a step board 21 which is pivotally hinged on the bracket 22 in such a manner that it may act upon the lever member when stepped upon, so that the rod member 23 may execute the rotational movement whereby the actuatingarm 24 is pivotally moved for pulling down the wire 47 connected thereto.

On one side above the door-case 13 are disposed a chain wheel and a winding drum 31 which are fastened to the shaft 32 respectively, the coaxial and simultaneous rotation. Said winding drum 31 has a wire or string 54 wound thereon; while, at the lower end of said wire or string 54 is provided a suspended poise 53 serving as a door opener.

On the other side above the door-case 13 are arranged in the same manner as above a further chain wheel 34 and a sprocket wheel 35 that are fastened to the shaft 36 for coaxial and simultaneous rotation. And the both chain wheels 30 and 34 are associated with each other through the endless chain 33 that is carried over therebetween. At one lower part thereof, said operating chain 33 is secured to the upper door frame 11 in a substantially middle portion of the latter 11 by means of connecting element 16 so that the running of the chain 33 may cause the door to open or close.

0n the right side of said chain wheel 34, a still further chain wheel 38 and a gear wheel 39 are arranged in such manner that the former 38 is fastened to the shaft 45, while the latter 39 is allowed to freely rotateonly clockwise for the limited turn of preferably at most 360, i.e., some rotary displacement predetermined in proportion to the gear ratio between the latter 39 and the gear wheel 47 intermeshing therewith as well as to the stroke of the shiftable poise 51, while prevented from any free rotational movement toward the counter-clockwise direction by the anti-reversing ratchet means, in such manner as is shown particularly in FIG. 5, wherein said ratchet means includes a recess 41 formed in the inner peripheral wall of the wheel 39, a further recess 42 formed in the rim portion of the disc member 44 rigidly secured to the shaft 45, a claw element 40 disposed in between said two recesses 41 and 42, and spring member 43 adapted in order to urge the claw element 40 upwardly.

The sprocket wheel 35 and said chain wheel 38 are connected with each other through the transmitting chain 37 which is carried over therebetween, being engaged with both wheels 35 and 38.

Said gear wheel 39 is meshed with a further gear wheel 47 that is fixedly mounted on the shaft 46 so as to-execute a coaxial and simultaneous rotation with a sprocket wheel 48, which is engaged with an actuating chain 49 carried thereon. At one end of said chain 49 is provided a poise element 51 serving as a door closer, by way of a wire or string 50 connected thereto, while, at the other end thereof, the chain 49 is connected to the actuating arm 24 of said foot actuating means 20 through another wire or string 52.

Thus, in operation for opening the door 10, when person's weight is applied onto the step board 21, the lever member 25 is depressed and swung to rotate the rod 23, and consequently the arm 24 secured thereto starts to swing downwardly, whereby the actuating chain 49 connected to the wire 52 is shifted downward as well, smoothly through the aid of guide rollers 17 and 18, turning the engaging sprocket wheel 48 counter-clockwise as well as lifting the door closing poise 51 connected therewith upward. Since either of the sprocket wheel 48 and the gear wheel 47 are fastened to the shaft 46 for coaxial and simultaneous rotation, the rotational movement of the fonner 48 causes to rotate the gear wheel 47 in the same direction.

While, it is to be noted that, as long as the door 10 is closed, the door opening poise 53 is held in its raised position because the latter 53 is lighter than the door closing poise 5i, so that the winding drum 31 is on the point of starting to rotate clockwise due to the gravity of the poise 53 but actually remains prevented from such unwinding movement by the heavier poise 51.

Consequently, as can be seen from FIG. I, the chain wheel 30, the operating chain 33, the chain wheel 34, the sprocket wheel 35, the transmitting chain 37, the chain wheel 38, the shaft 45, and the disc member 44 (FIG. 5) as well as the gear wheel 39 itself are all under the influence of clockwise torque developed by the gravity of said poise 53 and are about to rotate or to run in the same direction, but actually being held in static stability due to the gravity of the heavier poise 51. However, as the gear wheel 47 starts to rotate counterclockwise, the gear wheel 39 is rotated in the clockwise direction, thereby said static stability is lost, and, as a result, all of the above members including the operating chain 33 are permitted to rotate or to run in the clockwise direction until another static stability is presented in such manner that, upon arrival of the poise 51 at its uppermost position, the rotational movement of the gear wheels 47 and 39 is terminated simultaneously, resulting in the rotary displacement of the recess 41 (FIG. 5), while the disc member 44 (FIG. 5) is still rotating clockwise at a lower speed than that of the wheel 39 until at last the claw element 40 thereof goes into engagement with said recess 41 which has already been displaced, and thereby all the rotational or running movements of the members are suspended. Thus, the clockwise running of the operating chain 33, of course, results in driving the door to be opened, since the both members 33 and 10 are connected securely with each other.

In this connection, it will be easily understood from the foregoing description that the door 10 can be opened always at a constant speed, independently of the difference between the applied body-weights, because the opening of the door will be effected always by the action of door opening poise S3 alone.

On the other hand, in door closing operation, upon removal of persons weight applied to the step board 21, the door closing poise 51, which has been upwardly shifted, starts to fall down causing the actuating chain 49 to run clockwise whereby the sprocket wheel 48 as well as the gear wheel 47 are rotated in the same direction. Consequently, the gear wheel 39 that is meshed with said gear 47 is caused to rotate counterclockwise bringing about the same rotation of the disc member 44 as well as the shaft 45 through the action of antireversing ratchet. As a result, the chain wheel 39, the transmitting chain 37, the sprocket wheel 35, and the chain wheel 34 as well as the operation chain 33 are caused to rotate or run in the counter-clockwise direction. Thus, as the operating chain 33 runs counter-clockwise, the door 10 will be closed smoothly at a constant speed that is suitably predetermined in consideration of the gravities of the door opening poise 51 and the reactioning poise 53 as well as other factors such as the door weight, frictional resistences to be produced in respective part, etc.

While, in the course of the aforementioned operation, it will be obvious from the foregoing description that the winding drum 3] is rotated anti-clockwise as well so that the door opening poise 53 is shifted upwardly for preparation of the coming door opening operation.

Furthermore, it will also be easily understood that the weight of the door closing poise have to be predetermined in such manner that the gravity thereof will be larger than the total of the gravity of the door opening poise and the compound forces required for driving the door smoothly.

It should be noted that the present invention, illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, is to be considered as illustrative and restrictive in character, and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the present invention are included.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim: 1. An automatic door opening and closing means comprismg a door means connected to an operating chain,

a rail and roller means for displacing said door means,

a step board means including an actuating arm swingable up and down in response to the applied load,

a door closing poise connected to an actuating chain for effecting the door closing operation,

an actuating chain connected at its one end to said door closing poise while at the other end to said actuating arm,

a sprocket wheel engaged with said actuating chain,

an outer gear wheel mounted coaxially with said sprocket wheel,

an inner gear wheel meshed with said outer gear wheel,

an anti-reversing ratchet means disposed in between said inner gear wheel and a disc-like member mounted coaxially therewith, for restriction of counter-clockwise relative rotation of said inner gear wheel while allowing clockwise relative rotation thereof,

a transmitting chain carried over between a transmitting chain wheel and a transmitting s rocket wheel, an operating chain wheel mounte coaxially with said transmitting sprocket wheel,

a further operating chain wheel mounted coaxially with a winding drum,

an operating chain carried over between said two operating chain wheels,

a winding drum mounted coaxially with one of said two operating chain wheels,

a door opening poise which is shiftable up and down in cooperation with said winding drum for effecting the door opening operation.

2. The automatic door opening and closing means, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said anti-reversing ratchet means comprises a recess formed in the inner peripheral wall of said inner gear wheel, a further recess formed in the rim portion of the disc-like member fastened to the shaft mounting said inner gear wheel coaxially, a claw element disposed in between said two recesses, and a spring member adapted to urge the claw element upwardly.

3. The automatic door opening and closing means, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the weight of said door closing poise is predetermined in such manner that the gravity thereof will be larger than the total of the gravity of the door opening poise and the compound forces required for driving the door smoothly. 

1. An automatic door opening and closing means comprising a door means connected to an operating chain, a rail and roller means for displacing said door means, a step board means including an actuating arm swingable up and down in response to the applied load, a door closing poise connected to an actuating chain for effecting the door closing operation, an actuating chain connected at its one end to said door closing poise while at the other end to said actuating arm, a sprocket wheel engaged with said actuating chain, an outer gear wheel mounted coaxially with said sprocket wheel, an inner gear wheel meshed with said outer gear wheel, an anti-reversing ratchet means disposed in between said inner gear wheel and a disc-like member mounted coaxially therewith, for restriction of counter-clockwise relative rotation of said inner gear wheel while allowing clockwise relative rotation thereof, a transmitting chain carried over between a transmitting chain wheel and a transmitting sprocket wheel, an operating chain wheel mounted coaxially with said transmitting sprocket wheel, a further operating chain wheel mounted coaxially with a winding drum, an operating chain carried over between said two operating chain wheels, a winding drum mounted coaxially with one of said two operating chain wheels, a door opening poise which is shiftable up and down in cooperation with said winding drum for effecting the door opening operation.
 2. The automatic door opening and closing means, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said anti-reversing ratchet means comprises a recess formed in the inner peripheral wall of said inner gear wheel, a further recess formed in the rim portion of the disc-like member fastened to the shaft mounting said inner gear wheel coaxially, a claw element disposed in between said two recesses, and a spring member adapted to urge the claw element upwardly.
 3. The automatic door opening and closing means, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the weight of said door closing poise is predetermined in such manner that the gravity thereof will be larger than the total of the gravity of the door opening poise and the compound forces required for driving the door smoothly. 